Former FBI Director James Comey initially portrayed last week's damning report on the bureau's investigation of alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia as a vindication.
While Comey may take comfort from the fact that Horowitz "Did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision" to eavesdrop on former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page, the rest of us can hardly be reassured by the implication that the FBI is inept rather than corrupt.
Who ran the FBI from September 2013 to May 2017, is not just self-interested but demonstrably untrustworthy on this subject.
The FBI also neglected to mention that people who had worked with Steele questioned his judgment, that Steele's "Primary sub-source" had directly contradicted claims in his "Dossier," that Page had reported his contact with a Russian intelligence agent to the CIA, and that Page said he had never met key figures in the purported conspiracy described by Steele.
"FBI personnel fell far short of the requirement in FBI policy that they ensure that all factual statements in a FISA application are 'scrupulously accurate,'" Horowitz concluded.
As Horowitz noted in his report, the fact that "So many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked teams on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations," one that "Was briefed to the highest levels within the FBI" and "FBI officials expected would eventually be subjected to close scrutiny," suggests a much deeper problem involving unrestrained overzealousness, confirmation bias, tunnel vision, and groupthink-tendencies that threaten all Americans who value their privacy and reputations.
Even Comey, who claims the dishonesty described by Horowitz "Does not reflect the FBI culture of compliance and candor," wonders if the failure might be "Systemic," meaning there could be "Problems with other cases." Too bad he was never in a position to explore that issue.
https://reason.com/2019/12/18/the-fbis-systematic-dishonesty/
While Comey may take comfort from the fact that Horowitz "Did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision" to eavesdrop on former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page, the rest of us can hardly be reassured by the implication that the FBI is inept rather than corrupt.
Who ran the FBI from September 2013 to May 2017, is not just self-interested but demonstrably untrustworthy on this subject.
The FBI also neglected to mention that people who had worked with Steele questioned his judgment, that Steele's "Primary sub-source" had directly contradicted claims in his "Dossier," that Page had reported his contact with a Russian intelligence agent to the CIA, and that Page said he had never met key figures in the purported conspiracy described by Steele.
"FBI personnel fell far short of the requirement in FBI policy that they ensure that all factual statements in a FISA application are 'scrupulously accurate,'" Horowitz concluded.
As Horowitz noted in his report, the fact that "So many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked teams on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations," one that "Was briefed to the highest levels within the FBI" and "FBI officials expected would eventually be subjected to close scrutiny," suggests a much deeper problem involving unrestrained overzealousness, confirmation bias, tunnel vision, and groupthink-tendencies that threaten all Americans who value their privacy and reputations.
Even Comey, who claims the dishonesty described by Horowitz "Does not reflect the FBI culture of compliance and candor," wonders if the failure might be "Systemic," meaning there could be "Problems with other cases." Too bad he was never in a position to explore that issue.
https://reason.com/2019/12/18/the-fbis-systematic-dishonesty/
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